Chapter 1

Lying on the hospital bed in the delivery room, my wife, Ashley Chase, was drenched in sweat, screaming from the contractions. After seeing that I'd refused to give in, she grew so angry that tears poured down her face.

"Henry Madden! Have you forgotten the vows you made at our wedding?"

I'd spent five years pursuing Ashley. While we were in college, I dutifully walked her to and from class every day. And after we graduated, I drove her to and from work as well.

Every single time, I agreed to everything she asked me to do.

I watched helplessly as she fell in love with one guy after the other, only to be deceived by those scumbags again and again.

After her last breakup, she drank herself silly. Staring at me with bloodshot eyes, she said, "Throughout all these years, you're the only one who's always treated me well. Every other guy is just after my money, Henry. What about you?"

My heart ached for her.

"I don't want your money. I love you," I said as I kept consoling her.

The next day, once Ashley sobered up, she dragged me to the courthouse to register our marriage.

"Henry, I've finally realized that you're the one I should be with."

To prove that she'd made a clean break with all of her past relationships, she promised me she would never betray me. If she did, she swore she would die a miserable death.

But from the looks of it now, her so-called promise had only been an offhanded remark.

The fact that she brought up our wedding vows made me scoff in fury. "You're the one who broke your vows first, Ashley."

Ashley froze for a moment, having recalled the promise she once made to me. However, there wasn't the slightest hint of guilt or mortification in her eyes. In fact, she argued matter-of-factly, "All I did was make a mistake. Are you such a petty man that you can't even show me a little grace?"

I raised my hand and cut her off. "If you want to have the child, go ahead, but I refuse to be the father."

"Henry!" she shouted hysterically. "Are you only going to be satisfied if I die here today?"

The doctor anxiously handed me another consent form.

"This is a matter of life and death. Don't cause the patient any further emotional stress! Just appease your wife and let her deliver the baby first."

Before I could even react, Ashley let out a shrill scream. Blood began pooling beneath her.

Seeing that, I could only close my eyes and sign my name to the form.

As I stood outside the delivery room, I listened to her heart-wrenching screams. A little while later, the cry of a newborn baby rang out.

The child I'd been looking forward to for the last nine months had finally been born, but another man turned out to be the father.

When I first learned that Ashley was pregnant, I was so excited that I wanted to announce it to the whole world. I spent nine months taking care of her and doting on her in every way possible, afraid that she or the baby might feel even the slightest discomfort.

I handpicked every item for the baby and for Ashley's postpartum recovery, making sure that I only got the best of the best.

As it turned out, I was just the sucker who did the hard work while someone else got to reap the rewards.

Feeling weak, I had to brace myself against the wall as I slowly left the hospital.

The phone in my pocket kept buzzing. It only stopped when the battery died.